NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service
and the Marine Life Aquarium of Gulfport, Miss., are planning to rescue
eight aquarium dolphins from the Mississippi Sound in the next few
days. The eight bottlenose dolphins were swept out of an aquarium
tank by an estimated 40-foot wave during Hurricane Katrina. This is
the first large marine mammal rescue effort since Hurricane Katrina.

NOAA Fisheries Service scientists spotted
the dolphins swimming on Saturday while conducting an aerial survey
of natural resource damage. Because these dolphins are from a captive
facility they do not forage for food or necessarily have the survival
skills necessary to avoid predators or boat traffic. Marine Life Aquarium
trainers and NOAA Fisheries Service biologists have been feeding the
dolphins several times a day from the NOAA vessel. The group includes
two mother dolphins with two young in tow.

“We
are so pleased to have found these dolphins and that they are all
together," said NOAA Fisheries Service lead veterinarian Dr.
Teri Rowles. “Our biologists and the trainers say all of them
appear significantly underweight and have severe to minor wounds.
These animals have been swimming in water where we are unsure of the
conditions, and have been nutritionally stressed for two weeks. We
remain cautiously optimistic that they will recover from this ordeal."

Due
to the condition of the water and the difficulty of the rescue, biologists
will capture the dolphins in stages. They plan to transport the dolphins
to nearby salt-water pools, provided by the U.S. Navy, to give them
medical care and to evaluate them for contagious disease. Rowles said
the dolphins would be kept in quarantine while scientists assess their
overall health.

“Three of these eight dolphins
were born at the facility, and had never been in the wild, compacting
our concern for their well being,” said Moby Solangi, owner
and director for the Marine Life Aquarium. “Once we realized
the dolphins had been swept out to sea during the hurricane, we feared
that they had died. We are just thrilled that they have stayed together
during the past couple of weeks.”

The effort to rescue the eight dolphins
now involves various partners including the U.S. Navy, the Air National
Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.

Days
before the hurricane, workers at the Aquarium were able to move another
group of dolphins into a pool that survived Hurricane Camille in 1969.
These animals survived and were moved to the Gulfarium in Fort Walton
Beach, Fla. The eight dolphins being rescued had to be left in their
original pool at Marine Life Aquarium.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to
protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources
and their habitat through scientific research, management and enforcement.
NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources
for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that
depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood
to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated
to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction
and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental
stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through
the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA
is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop
a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it
observes.